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GOP mega-donors stand by their men

Just 17 donors shelled out about half of the more than $81 million that's flooded into PACs.

William Duhamel, a managing member at Route One Investment Co. and former Bain & Co. employee, donated $10,000 last December to Restore Our Future. But in January, he shelled out $10,000 to the pro-Santorum group, Red White and Blue Fund.

After Herman Cain dropped out of the race last year, two donors who had backed the 9-9-9 Fund supporting his candidacy shifted gears to donate to groups boosting Gingrich and Santorum. And two donors who gave to the group backing Gingrich in January gave to the pro-Santorum group in February.

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“It’s really anybody but Romney,” said Jim Evans, president and CEO of Clean Country, a cleaning services company in Omaha, Neb. Evans donated $1,000 to the pro-Gingrich super PAC in January, then gave $4,000 to the pro-Santorum group in February.

He said Romney isn’t conservative enough to win his financial support, even if he secures the nomination. “I’ll give my money someplace else; it’ll be to true party conservatives,” Evans said.

To be sure, the super PAC behind Romney already has found plenty of wealthy benefactors willing to pony up a million dollars or more this cycle.

In addition to Bob Perry’s $4 million, the group has received at least $1 million apiece from former Bain Capital official EdwardConard; hedge fund managers Robert Mercer, Paul Singer, Julian Robertson and John Paulson; the Tulsa, Okla.-based investment firm Rooney Holdings, and Utah corporations Eli Publishing and F8 LLC.

Restore Our Future has also won over some former donors from Our Destiny super PAC, which was formed to aid former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman . Huntsman endorsed Romney in mid-January after his dismal third-place finish in the New Hampshire GOP primary.

Billionaire Jim Walton, heir to the Wal-Mart fortune and the 16th-richest person in the world as ranked by Forbes, gave $100,000 to groups backing both Romney and Huntsman in October. He cut another $100,000 check to the pro-Romney group in January, the day after Huntsman ended his campaign.

Another major GOP donor, former Univision CEO Jerry Perenchio, gave $500,000 to Restore Our Future in February after giving $100,000 to the pro-Huntsman group in January.

If I had the money and was funding Santorum, I would be funding him because he was THE guy I wanted to be president. Why would I EVER fund his opponent. If Romney wins, let his backers support him. I would have nothing to do with him. That should be no mystery.

Interesting. Could you also do an equally well placed article about the amount of money unions spend? Elections in many states turn on the huge money unions pump into their own favored candidate.

Remember - the Citizens United ruling made unions and corporations able to use monies as they choose. Unions use 95% of their money to back Democratic candidates. So why no stories on that?

Additionally, unions do not give those who pay dues absolutely any say whatsoever on how their dues are spent.

If you are going to be "outraged! outraged, I tell you!" about PACs go all the way and show your outrage for the buying of elections on the part of unions; and consider, too, their buying power as only a fraction of a voting population and a minority with whom the majority of voters disagree with.

If I had the money and was funding Santorum, I would be funding him because he was THE guy I wanted to be president. Why would I EVER fund his opponent. If Romney wins, let his backers support him. I would have nothing to do with him. That should be no mystery.

Remember - the Citizens United ruling made unions and corporations able to use monies as they choose. Unions use 95% of their money to back Democratic candidates. So why no stories on that?

Why would there be a story on that?... Who would they donate to?.. The Republicans that are trying to do away with them?... Of course, they're going to donate to the Dems and the president... I'm surprised its not 100% of their monies... Where do you think their money will be invested in the Rust Belt.., where unions are being dismantled by Walker other thugs against unions...

The republican National Party built this years primary strife, and hopefully they'll be smart enough to get rid of the proportional crap after this election cycle. They have fed a rivalry that didn't need to exist on such a large scale, and super pacs have been like a shot of steroids. If the process would have picked a candidate earlier there wouldn't be the spats we see right now. However, it's only April, and the last time a political party had such a hard fought, mud slinging, race, in which one candidates backers said they wouldn't back the evential winners, Obama was elected anyway. And Clinton became the SOS, never to be heard from again.

One other thought..... Obama picked Ohio State to beat Kansas. While I, being a supporter of the 1st ammendment, support his right to make his choice freely, it is but one of many reasons I won't vote for him in 2012. That Ohio is a swing state I'm sure had nothing to do with his pick, (choke, choke, cough, cough.)

The flood of cash from the rich, the few and the furious doesn't take away your vote. It swamps your vote and drowns out your voice and puts in office too many politicians who aren't inclined to listen to you after they take office. They hear the sound of money and they listen to a drum beat that I don't like to hear. How about you? More comments on my blog: Barley Literate by Rickhttp://barleyliterate.blogspot... />

The vast majority of spending on a campaign to be President is from only 17 people.

Thank you, Citizens United!

Nick, this isn't even what the article stated..... Since when is half been a vast majority? Keep in mind, this doesn't include the money the individual candidates spend, like the 1 billion Obama was once projected to spend. As far as Citizen's United.... I suppose you would have rather had the Supreme Court say, "The hell with the consitution." - Read the ruling.

Why would there be a story on that?... Who would they donate to?.. The Republicans that are trying to do away with them?... Of course, they're going to donate to the Dems and the president... I'm surprised its not 100% of their monies... Where do you think their money will be invested in the Rust Belt.., where unions are being dismantled by Walker other thugs against unions...

Just a few points. 1) Not all of their members are democrats, so these Union bosses are spending money on candidates a significant % of their membership doesn't support. 2) Wisconson is barely in the rust belt. 3) The only thing Walker has done to the unions is try to make the state policy of negotiations with public workers the same as it is with the Federal Government. If unions don't like the policy in Wisconson then they should go occupy the U.S. Capitol building too. 4) Unions have done more dammage to the rust belt than any one Governor or party ever could.

Instead of complaining about Citizen's United, consider this stimulus. No one is forcing anyone to listen to their stupid commercials. Meg Whitman bored Californian's to death with her endless ads and people still didn't vote for her.

I can't stand listening to the left crying about big GOP money donors. Obama himself has said that he wishes to raise 1 billion dollars this time around......crickets from the left! Of course the GOP is going to try and raise as much as they can. Aside from having a extremely popular candidate, which at this point doesn't exist within the GOP, they'll have to raise as much as Obama.

The President has the taxpayers dime driving and flying him all over the country. The W.H. press sec. calls it doing the business of the people, that is, Obama's multiple daily trips across the country "aren't campaign related" even though he had seven fundraisers yesterday! The W.H. will say everybody does this..... But wasn't it Obama who said he'd CHANGE this kind of stuff? He's supposed to be a changer of the way politics was and is run. Guess not!